Vince to Rescue the Mail?

Yesterday's Mail on Sunday had a feature that I so little expected to appear that I went out to acquire a copy to verify with my own eyes the account that I had heard on the radio. Sure enough, the LibDem leader, Vince Cable had produced an article which they published. Sadly, the headline [doubtless chosen by some minion of the Mail] was misleading. It suggested that the MPs who are pressing for a 'hard Brexit' are "masochists": when the reality is that they are aiming to torment the British nation with lower living standards. These individuals might - just - share to some degree in the pain if there is a 'hard Brexit', but they will remain relatively privileged compared to the mass of the population.

It is understood that 'the Brexiteers' are pushing their influence to the limit, as it becomes obvious that more and more of the Leave voters are recognising the idiocy of the extreme Brexiteers' position. It is taken for granted that the referendum result will be respected, and Britain will cease to use the EU flag, will cease to provide members of the Commission and the Parliament and the Court, and will open a new era of sovereign diplomatic policy. But to leave the European Economic Area would be madness. To quit Euratom would be seriously dangerous. Even to think that the UK could have most-favoured-nation status with the USA - to the exclusion of the EU and Mexico - would be a demonstration of insanity. Yet these issues are now becoming apparent: and it is reported that some members of the Cabinet, perhaps including the Brexit ministers, are on the side of the tormentors.

The Mail group of papers was among the advocates of 'Leave', for very good reasons. Now it is allowing alternative opinions to be aired on where Brexit should aim to end up, as shown by yesterday's LibDem article. But much more significant is the opinion piece that is set alongside Cable's, which recognises the finding of serious researchers, that some Conservative 'Leavers' failed to vote Conservative in the recent general election - and some voted LibDem or Labour - in despair at the crazy determination of some Conservative to press for a 'hard Brexit'. Provided some compromise can be achieved on the migration of people within the area, the Mail wants to UK to be within the European Economic Area. The dawn of sense, in a very significant influencer of Middle Britain!

It is highly improbable that a person with such a bad dress-sense as Mrs May has very much commonsense. It is questionable what contact she has ever had with 'ordinary people' except as her father's parishioners, and subsequently as shop assistants, college and parliamentary servants, the layers of Bank of England minions who have recently been on strike; and others whose role is to serve. She may, however, continue to be presented with a digest of the media every day, as her predecessors have been: in which case whoever edits it should have marked this twist of the Mail's tale with a big, black exclamation mark. It means that hundreds of thousands of Mail readers are already forming the sort of opinion that the paper presented yesterday. It explains why Mrs May 'lost' the election, and why the Conservative Party will plummet lower and lower in the polls unless the 'hard Brexiteers' are pushed aside now.

As Cable says - and it might even be in his own words - "The cliff edge draws closer. For the Brexit martyrs, paradise beckons. No longer Project Fear but Project Near. After that it will be Project Here."

Cable has helped the Mail to signal a major shift in the opinion of middle Britain: let us hope that it is in time!